Observational Design

What are behavioural catergories?

target behaviours must be precisely defined and made measurable

What is event sampling?

Counting the number of times a particular behaviour (event) occurs in a target individual or group

What is time sampling?

recording behaviour within a pre-established time frame

Evaluate event sampling?

its useful when the target behaviour is unpredictable and infrequent and its representative of behaviour

However, if the event is too complex important details may be missed

Evaluate time sampling

It is effective for reducing observation needed

However, the samples may be unrepresentative

Outline structured observations

simplifies target behaviours, behaviours needed are specified, allows researcher to quantify observation using predetermined list of behaviours

What is an unstructured observation

researcher writes everything they see, rich in detail, appropriate small scale observation